Northwest becoming a hub for wind power

One big project is being planned near Burley

Some may howl when the wind gusts across southern Idaho and central Washington, but others plan to harness it.

Ken Dey
The Idaho Statesman

Despite a regional power surplus, the Northwest has become a hub for wind farm development, which is predicted to continue growing here and nationwide.

At least eight projects are proposed for Central Washington, including three in Kittitas County and one in Benton County. Hundreds of wind turbines could rise as early as next year if the projects are approved.

Spinning out more than 800 megawatts, the projects would double the state´s current wind power production, providing power for more than 100,000 homes.

Only one major project, a 200 megawatt project in the Cotterel Mountain southeast of Burley, has been identified in Idaho, but there are a number of other Idaho sites being evaluated for potential projects.

Boise-based Windland is in the process of completing environmental documentation for a proposed $200 million project on Bureau of Land Management land in the Cotterel Mountains southeast of Burley. Developers are planning to build 130 wind turbines to produce 200 megawatts of power.

EnXco, a Danish company, also is actively investigating and monitoring eight sites in Idaho for potential wind farms.

Dick Larsen, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Water Resources, said the state also is monitoring sites on state endowment land for potential wind power development, and some of Idaho´s Indian tribes have also expressed interest in wind power, including the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe in eastern Idaho.

Although there are no major wind power projects yet operating in Idaho, Larsen said that scenario will likely change in the next 18 months to two years.

“We´re right on the cusp of the breakout when it comes to wind,” Larsen said. “It takes a long time to get the momentum building, but we know the wind resources are there, and we now know the developers are here.”

Some question the effect wind farms have on scenery and wildlife, but two large operations are already running in Washington. The Stateline Wind Project along the Oregon border west of Walla Walla is the world´s largest wind farm, generating 300 megawatts. The Nine Canyon Wind Farm west of Kennewick produces 60 megawatts.

Among wind farm customers is Pacific Power.

“Wind energy is huge for us,” said Deston Nokes, a Pacific Power spokesman based in Portland. “We like wind because it has no pollutants, it´s plentiful in supply, fairly quick to construct and can be put in remote places.”

Pacific Power currently purchases 83 megawatts of wind power out of Wyoming, enough to power 13,000 homes.

Idaho Power Co., however, is taking a slower approach to embracing wind power.

Company spokesman Dennis Lopez said the company buys an average of one megawatt a year in wind power to support its Green Power program.

The Green Power program allows customers to pay a little extra to support renewable energy.

Idaho Power buys its wind power from the Stateline Wind Project on the Washington-Oregon border.

Lopez said the company does not now have wind power in its portfolio of power resources for its traditional customers, but that could change if interest continues to grow.

“We use our Green Power program as a way to measure customer interest in wind power, and as that interest grows it moves closer to being a part of our resources,” Lopez said.

The 83 megawatts of wind power purchased by Pacific Power is still only a fraction of the 8,300 megawatts the company provides. But that gap is expected to close over the next 10 years because the company plans to acquire 1,400 megawatts of renewable energy, most of it wind power.

The growth of wind energy is, in part, due to utilities facing volatile natural gas prices, said Jeff King, a senior resource analyst with the Northwest Power Planning Council.

But even with higher natural gas prices, wind power remains more expensive to generate — from 3 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour compared to coal, oil and natural gas, which can cost less than 2 cents.

Most of wind power´s growth, though, is a result of a federal tax subsidy.

Under the program, the government pays wind farm companies 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour produced by a wind power plant.

The tax credit makes generating wind energy competitive with the other power resources, said Kathy Belyeu, a spokeswoman with the American Wind Energy Association, based in Washington, D.C.

The subsidy is credited with creating a spike in wind farm developments that hasn´t slowed.

Nationwide, the industry should grow by more than 25 percent this year, according to the association.

In the United States, windmills produce about 4,700 megawatts. That will likely jump to more than 6,000 by year´s end. That´s enough to serve 1.5 million homes, but less than 1 percent of the nation´s energy production.

“We are definitely not at a peaking point,” Belyeu said. “We would like to see the industry produce 6 percent of the nation´s power by 2020.”

Approved in 1995, the tax credit is up for renewal this year. If Congress doesn´t renew the subsidy, companies with proposed wind farm projects would likely suspend development, she said.

“The proposals in Washington, no doubt, are contingent upon the extension of the tax credit,” she said. “If the tax credit goes away, we will see some decline at first. It´s a big part of the driver right now.”

But most in the industry expect the tax credit will be renewed.

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig who serves on the Senate Energy Committee is a supporter of alternative and renewable energy. Will Hart, a spokesman for Craig, said if the tax credit remains reasonable, Craig would likely support it.

Also pushing wind farm developments are technological advancements.

Larger, more efficient turbines produce more and have led to a 90 percent decrease in costs, down from 38 cents per kilowatt hour in the early ´80s.

Not everyone is a fan of wind power.

There´s serious concern about birds, particularly migratory ones, getting caught up in the blades. Critics worry about sullying pristine landscapes and dropping property values. And critics worry consumers may be paying for something they just don´t need and that wind farm developers are merely looking for tax breaks.

Such is the thinking of Glenn Schleede, founder of Energy Market and Policy Analysis consulting firm in Reston, Va.

Schleede is a former White House staffer, and he served under the Nixon and Ford administrations in the Office of Management and Budget.

Tax breaks for wind farm companies, even when excluding the federal tax credit, amount to millions annually, which boosts development. But wind power still largely costs more to generate than other energy sources, Schleede said.

He estimated that even a 0.02-cent-per-kilowatt-hour increase over other electricity sources would amount to consumers paying an extra $11 million per year.

“Wind farms are a bad idea,” he said.

Keith Johnson isn´t so sure he agrees, but he is worried about birds and other wildlife near the proposed windmills in Kittitas County.

Johnson is president of the Kittitas Audubon Society.

“Most wind farms are put up on ridges, and guess where birds normally fly?” he said.

Hawks and eagles are particularly vulnerable to getting snagged by windmill blades because they use the wind to soar, he said.

“They´re huge developments,” he said. “The problem is, they´re all slated to go up one after the other. If the birds escape one, they could get caught in the next row, or the next.”

The state Department of Ecology shares Johnson´s concerns and has developed guidelines for companies to create or protect twice as much as is destroyed, ideally near the site.

“Some of our members are all for wind farms, because they´re green energy,” Johnson said. “Others are against it. We just have to have some biological studies to make sure we don´t do something wrong.”

Maybe some economic studies are in order, too, suggests Bill Murlin with the Bonneville Power Administration.

The agency, under the jurisdiction of the federal Department of Energy, buys about 198 megawatts of wind power, less than 1 percent of its energy purchases, from six existing facilities.

But it has not yet committed to purchasing any power from proposed wind projects, Murlin said.

The agency approaches wind power cautiously and first makes sure it´s cost effective to it and rate payers before buying. Like Pacific Power, it will consider proposals, he said.

“We don´t want them to go away,” Murlin said. “We think developments are good if they´re cost-effective and meet environmental concerns of communities.”

Dori Harrell from Yakima Herald-Republic contributed to this story.

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Ken Dey
[email protected] or 377-6428

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